Orthodox Democrat: The fall of Joe Lieberman - political decisions of Senator Joe Lieberman

National Review, Dec 31, 2000 by Jay Nordlinger

Again, not only conservatives noticed. By October 25, the Washington Post's editorial board had had enough. Under the headline "Where's the Old Joe Lieberman?" it chronicled the senator's brazen reversals and described his (extended) dalliance with Farrakhan as "pitiful to watch."

It is hard to say which was the worst aspect of Lieberman's campaign-but probably it was the lending of his moral authority, such as it was, to the inflaming of race relations. On one Meet the Press, Tim Russert showed Lieberman the notorious NAACP ad exploiting the murder-by-dragging of James Byrd, a black Texan. The ad featured a moving truck and a suggestive chain trailing behind it, as the victim's daughter-narrating-decried Gov. Bush's unwillingness to sign further "hate crimes" legislation. (Bush argued that criminals should be punished as criminals, plain and simple. Two of the three Byrd murderers got the chair; the other received life in prison.) Said the daughter: "When Governor George W. Bush refused to support hate-crimes legislation, it was like my father was killed all over again."

Lieberman said that he had never seen the ad, which had been the subject of intense controversy for days: "Is that-was that someone related to James Byrd?" (meaning the narrating daughter). "Well," he finally said, "that's a sincere expression of her opinion. . . . Based on what you've told me, what I've just heard, I don't think there's anything factually wrong, and she's just expressing an opinion."

The "conscience of the Senate."

On November 7, Lieberman handily won reelection to his Senate seat. He had chosen to remain his party's senatorial nominee in Connecticut, causing many Democrats to regard him as selfish. (If Lieberman is inaugurated as vice president, the state's governor, a Republican, will appoint a replacement senator, presumably a Republican. The division in the Senate will be 51 Republicans, 49 Democrats.) Toward the end of the campaign, Lieberman told an interviewer, "You know, in my daily prayers I definitely pray for the election of 51-at least-Democratic senators." Lest anyone misunderstand him, he went on to say, "I'm confident, and, as I say, I hope-and underline 'pray'-that the Democrats elect 51 senators." These are interesting prayers. On December 6, the Associated Press reported the following: "When asked if he was glad that he doubled up on the Nov. 7 ballot, simultaneously running for vice president and reelection to his Senate seat from Connecticut, Lieberman just smiled."

The conscience of the Senate.

It should not be hard to guess what Lieberman prayed for in the presidential contest (which at this writing remains undecided). The senator has been very much the face and mouth of the Gore efforts in Florida. As one (unnamed) Democrat observed to the Washington Post, "He is the real hawk. Once you've tasted the big time, it's hard to go back."

Since Election Night, Lieberman has repeatedly emphasized that "we won the popular vote." This is obviously Talking Point Number One. And he has joined, or led, the assault on Florida secretary of state Katherine Harris. On November 16, he said, "Honestly [another Lieberman red flag], [she] has acted in a way that seems to me to be so unilateral, one-sided, and contrary to what the spirit of the law, let alone court decisions in Florida, suggest, which is that the whole intention of an election is to have the people's desires reflected in the outcome. Not to go by the technical, legal detail of the law."